The Catch of the Day

Today, Cole reached a new level of cruncherdom.....are you ready????
Ta-da! HE CAUGHT HIS OWN SNAKE! Wow! I told the boys to go pick some raspberries (to keep them out of our poor neighbor's yard, their favorite frog hunting spot) and a few minutes later I heard much squealing with abundant joy. Here he is with his trophy. (When dad came home for lunch an hour later, Cole emphasized how "BIG" the snake was. Heh, heh.) Then, over the next half hour, we reviewed all the places you do not put snakes (as he tried each spot... namely coolers, pockets, water bottles etc.) It's all part of our B.E.A.T.A (Boys for the Ethical and Affectionate Treatment of Animals) program. How's our organization going, you might ask? Let's just say these baby snakes are remarkably....unhardy.

Anyway - GOOD! This means I don't have to catch them anymore. Sure, I've caught several for my boys, but I admit - there's just something creepy about snakes.

Bee Attitudes

Bees are now permanently excluded from BEATA, (Boys for the Ethical & Affectionate Treatment of Animals) and will now be part of the KILLA program. I'll let Grant explain:
"No bees! No bees! No bees!" (arrow indicates site of the attack in the shrubs, and Grant' back displays 2 of the 7 welts left from the uncalled for assault.)
Cole: "Bees sting, bees sting!" (Being a supportive and sympathetic buddy, since he got stung 3 times 2 days ago.)
The perfect cure: M&Ms, a popsicle, and a dip in the pool. (And watching from the window as Pop poisoned the nest was sort of therapeutic.)

Summer Trip Episode 9

Time: 6 July 2008, 3:11 PM
Location: 38°16'30"N 109°24'19"W A rest stop just below Soldier Summit, UT
Event: Time to Run Around

Hey! What's in this hole?
Squirrels!
What's worse that having a tug of war with a squirrel?
Losing a tug of war with a squirrel.
Oh well. I suppose that was the BEATA thing to do.

Summer Trip Episode 8

Time: 6 July 2008, 12:26 PM
Location: 38°16'30"N 109°24'19"W Looking Glass Arch (near Moab), UT
Event: A Trip Through Memory Arch

This was the scene on 29 September 2002, at sunset. Ma had just agreed to marry me.
And now, nearly six years later we have multiplied. Without thinking about it, we sat on the same rock, mostly because it's the best place to take a picture, with another rock conveniently located to prop a camera on. This next picture is facing the opposite direction. The one from 2002 was looking into the fading light of the sunset and the rock isn't visible.
We stopped here to let the boys "run around", a phrase they caught on to quickly and would start chanting when they wanted to get out of the car on the long drive home.
I suppose we all needed some time out of the car.
We had a great BEATA moment when Ma caught a lizard.
Cole got into the BEATA spirit and caught a large ant. Fortunately it was a member of EATDB (Ethical Ants That Don't Bite) and didn't employ its large pinchers.
And, just like six years ago, we stopped in Moab (at the same restaurant) for pizza afterward.

BEATA Baby Bird

The kitties caught a baby bird for us! We saw it all occur, and were able to make a successful rescue (much to the kitties' disappointment.) Grant was especially touched by it all, and so he will be awarded the BEATA (Boys for the Ethical & Affectionate Treatment of Animals) award for the month. (The chapter has been inactive due to the abundance of rain, and lack of animals to torment - or, I mean "love.")
There. Isn't that touching? I thought it made for better viewing than Cole carrying around a big beetle and an earthworm for 15 min. straight, today. It's really the more amazing story, too, because after hauling that beetle around everywhere, in tightly closed fist, when he set it down ever so carefully - it just crawled away like nothing had ever happened with all six legs attached. I think our organization is really making a difference!!!

BEATA Update: on stream location

BEATA (Boys for the Ethical and Affectionate Treatment of Animals.)
Well, it sure "beata" trip to the fabric store (ha ha ha.) Anyway, we're on location, today, at a stream near our house, and were not disappointed one bit in our discoveries, and objects on which to force our affection. For example:

Rocks! (Now, I know they're not animals, but we love them so much we have to add them to the list.) Well, we got a little carried away with the affection, there (they don't taste as clean as they look.)It turns out that what rocks really love is to be thrown. Yes, that is the measure of their creation, and therefore, we obliged.
Next we found... "Nakes!" They really loved us, too. Here he is hugging us before going back to his home with all other "nakes."
Next up....
Beata froggy! He got a little pat on the head, and we had to back off on the squeezes. And we know he didn't want to leave us, because he swam away real slow. Hmmm.
As a bonus, we found a "nake" just our size on the way back to the car. Wow! After all that love, we were just "beata" and had to be put right to bed. Ahhhhh, dreams of froggies.

BEATA Update

All in one weekend, Cole was able to *BEATA chicken, kitty, and goat! Thanks to Uncle Ken, and his mini farm in Perry, UT, many new members were added, and treated affectionately.
A little too affectionately, perhaps. But this is a mommy kitty, and we all know mommies of any type have impressive amounts of patience. These kitties have a club of their own: KALM (Kitties Affectionate to Little Men.) Otherwise, there's no way this situation could have ended scratch free. NO WAY.
*Boys for the Ethical and Affectionate Treatment of Animals
PETA bad, BEATA good.

Be Kind To Your Fine Feathered Friends

Well, it looks like one more BEATA update. Cole wanted to add BEATA Crow to the roster of favored little animal buddies. He fell out of one of the trees, and judging from all the down feathers still present, isn't very old, and a long way from flying.
Cole had already been hard at work unplanting flowers (with his teeth) when the baby was discovered hopping along on the grass. We found him just seconds before the kitties.

We thought putting him on the potting shed would be sufficient, but that ended up just fraught with peril.
So we moved him to the deck, and fed him lots of grapes and what not. He had a hearty appetite.

Later, despite all our efforts, the BEATA crow shuffled of his mortal coil, kicked the bucket, joined the choir invisibile and became an ex-crow. So we nailed him to his perch and sold him to an Englishman.

What's all the "fuzz" about?

After much thought, Grant has an important announcement. He and Cole no longer want any association with the wacko screwballs of PETA and want to form their own organization, more appropriately named BEATA (Boys for the Ethical and Affectionate Treatment of Animals.) Animals of their particular focus will be titled with a 'BEATA' before their name, ie - "BEATA Kitty," or "BEATA Hedgehog" and so on.
BEATA Tucker was honored, and gave Grant a fuzzy little hug.
Nipper missed the festivities (he has his own club "W.A.M." - Whack A Mole.)
Cole gave him a rub down as an official initiation,
followed by Grant. Then Cole ate a rock, and they called it a day.

Yay for BEATA!